To Find An Elemental Master
by MegaMon2580
Summary: Eli Shane is the younger brother of Slugterra world famous Will Shane. Eli lives on the surface, Will down in the 99 caverns. But when Eli comes down by himself, it's up to Will, his friends, and Eli to find out the secrets of the Shane family and why some people want Eli dead.
1. The Journey Down

Chapter One

Eli merrily walked to his house after his last day of 8th grade, and he was excited too!

'Tomorrow. I get to see my brother with Uncle Jimmo! I can't wait!' Eli thought to himself as he kept on walking. His friend caught up with him, though, cutting Eli's train of thought off.

"Yo Elliot! You ready for the summer?" his friend asked him.

"Oh. Hey, Luke. I'm ready for summer. But I might be moving, though, remember? And my name is Eli. Not Elliot."

"Yeah yeah I know I know. You tell me that all the time. Anyway, if you DO move, promise to stay in touch, got it?"

"Uh huh. Got it." Eli said before he saw his house and started running to it.

To be honest (with himself as well), he wasn't feeling so good at school, and he just wanted to go home and sleep off the bug or whatever he had. Once inside, he noticed the atmosphere was off. He couldn't place it. He just knew it was off. But what he saw made him gag. There was his mother, but she wasn't exactly in perfect condition. Well, she was there, but she had a big slit in her throat, all red with blood.

'No, this cannot be happening,' Eli thought. It was too much for the 13-year-old's mind to process that his mother was dead. He ran to where he knew his Uncle Jimmo's office was. But he saw the same thing there had happened like what had happened to his mother. He was about to run away when he felt a hand cover his mouth. He immediately widened his eyes and stayed stiff.

"Good lad. Now… where is Eli Shane…?" the person hissed in his ear.

The man let his hand go from the boy's face but kept a firm grip on his body.

"I… I don't know…" Eli stuttered.

The man sneered.

"You better not know. Or I WILL hunt you down."

Eli gulped. As the man left, he breathed out the air he wasn't even aware he was holding. Once the man was gone, he saw a letter on the desk that said 'To: Eli Shane. From: Uncle Jimmo' on the front. He also noted that it was slightly ripped. Once he for sure knew the man left the house (he looked everywhere), he opened the note.

'Dear Eli,

If you are reading this, it means I've fallen protecting Slugterra, your brother, mother, or you and your secrets. It's one of the many risks of being a Shane. A risk you'll someday face yourself. If you decide to follow in my footsteps. A long line of Shane's has made the trip down to Slugterra. If you do choose to go, remember our deal.'

"Not until I'm 15," Eli whispered. As he read on, he also saw a line he would have skipped if he wasn't paying attention.

'If something has happened to your mother, myself, and your father, then leave immediately.'

Well… something did happen to his mother and uncle. It was murder. But his father? He didn't know. Or remember. Well, he got glimpses of it, but that was his powers' fault. What he remembered was his father protecting him from a blast that was supposed to kill him because of his powers, but his father sacrificed himself to keep Eli breathing. He was about 5 or so. He was 13 now, so about eight years ago. His brother lived in Slugterra with Uncle Jimmo, but Jimmo came up only on the weekends. Very rarely Will came with him.

Will was probably about 15 or so now. He also had about another five months left of school in Slugterra Academy. Will had started school in January while Eli had begun in August. His brother was in 9th grade so far. He would be a sophomore the following January. It was May now, and Will got off of school the end of October. But if he knew his brother, he wouldn't be able to take the next months off.

But first, Eli knew he would need some slugs. But he was aware that he could get away with going to what he thought was called Quiet Lawn Cavern when he got there. He had a slingshot in his back pocket for if he ever needed it before he got his blaster. He hopped down into the drainage sewers that were beneath his house. As he walked to the Shane Symbol on a button that opened to The Drop, if he remembered correctly, he read some more of the letter.

'I've told you all about my adventures in Slugterra, and you'll have plenty of your own. Getting down there is going to be the easy part. Getting back up, that will be a lot harder for you. If you choose to go, it will be a one-way trip until you learn the secret of how to get back home. I know we've always talked about making your first journey underground together with Will and me, but you'll have to do this one on your own. I've told you so much about Slugterra, but it only scratches the surface of what you'll see. You'll be traveling over 100 miles beneath the surface of the Earth, to a place only a handful of topsiders have ever seen. You'll be safe inside the carriage, just… hold on tight.'

Eli stopped there and climbed into the carriage. The carriage locked him in like it was a roller coaster. When he pushed the button to activate it, Eli understood why. He whooped and cheered the whole way down. But when he saw Slugterra, a parachute activated, throwing his head back. Eli hissed in pain as it gave him pain in his head and a wave of nausea.

'Huh. I guess seeing my mom and uncle's bodies all bloody is starting to get to me.' he thought.

He read some more of the letter to see what to do next.

'When you reach Slugterra, there will be a Shane hideout within a few hundred yards of The Drop. Inside, you'll find all the gear you're going to need to keep the peace. Your own Mechabeast will be waiting for you inside the Service Bay. Happy Birthday, Eli.'

'But if I go to the hideout, will my brother be there? Or will I be alone? Or…?'

His thoughts went haywire. He shook his head and went to Quiet Lawn Cavern instead. It took about a few hours, but eventually, he got there. He was also grateful he had some gold on him to get some food and drinks when he would need it. Then the rain poured down on him and the cavern. He ran to a grotto he had seen just outside of the cavern. As soon as he got in there, he saw three slugs.

One was light green with a pale green belly, face, and neck. Its eye color was green as well. The slug also had two antennae that were light green on top of its head. The second one was blue with a brown belly and brown coloring around its eyes. Both eyes were blue, and it had one tooth. The slug also had two blue antennae on top of its head. The third one was dark orange in color with yellow and tan color markings. It also had a small flame patterned belly which was colored tan, and it had two antennae at the top of its head with yellow tips on them. Another thing the slug had was a small, two tipped flame on top of its head, going down which was colored yellow. Its eye color was a red-orange. He also remembered part of the note his uncle left him.

'I usually keep a few blasters around. But you'll have to find your own slugs. That's going to be your most important task, Eli. The slugs are the key to everything down here. You're going to learn that they're much more than ammo.'

"Hey, guys! Do you want to spend the night here with me?" Eli asked the slugs.

They gave off chirps of happiness which made him laugh. The orange slug breathed fire onto the firewood Eli had out to keep them warm. The slug then burped loudly.

"I think I'll call you… Burpy. That okay with you?"

The orange slug, now dubbed Burpy, smiled and jumped around. The green slug saw the cut that was on Eli's arm and let a greenish aura from its body. The cut soon went away.

"Thanks, Doc! I can call you Doc, right?"

Doc gave a chirp that sounded like an 'uh huh'.

"Now to name you…" Eli said to the blue and brown slug that was asleep. He then remembered a slug that was legendary that Will showed a picture of to him a while ago. What was it? An… Enigmo…? Right?

"I think I'll call you… Mo."

He got no response due to Mo being asleep. Eli, feeling tired himself, lay himself down on the cool, rocky floor. As he pulled his body closer, he felt Burpy tuck himself next to his chest and Doc next to his achy stomach. Mo was near his feet. Doc let out the calming aura again, and Eli felt his belly feel a bit better. Burpy let some heat out from his body to help keep Eli warm. Before Eli was completely asleep, he asked one more question.

"Will you guys be my first three slugs I've ever had?"

Burpy and Doc let out coos of happiness. Mo cuddled closer.

"Thank you guys."

Eli then drifted off to dreamland.


	2. Finding Help

A boy with dark blue hair and blue-purple eyes along with a cave troll that had a tattoo on his arms with dark colored eyes along with a small orange beard on his chin were playing video games. The girl with fire-red hair that was tied up in two pigtails with long bangs that covered the right side of her face, as well as grassy green eyes was playing video games with them.

"Ugh. I hate the rain!" the girl sighed and did a finishing blow to finish off the cave troll.

"Aww! Come on Trixie! I almost had ya!" the cave troll yelled at the girl, now dubbed Trixie.

"Easy Kord. It's just a game," the cave troll, now named Kord sighed, "and why do you hate the rain, Trixie?" the boy asked.

"Well… I guess there's just nothing to do…"

Then a Molenoid came into the room with snacks in his hands.

"Hey, Pronto! Care to join us?" the boy called over.

"Nah. Pronto has no need for these, silly games." the molenoid, Pronto, stated.

"Hey, Will? Didn't you say that your brother was done with school?" Trixie asked.

The boy dubbed Will nodded.

"Yeah. You are too, aren't you? Kindergarten and 1st grade here go year round, 2nd grade through 8th grade goes from August to May, and 9th through 12th grade goes from January to October, right? And you just finished 8th grade."

"That's right. How old is your brother anyway?"

Will never got to answer because the alarm went off. They dropped their controllers (or snacks, in Pronto's case) and went to the video phone to see a man with dark brown (going gray) hair on the screen.

"Hey, Red Hook! Quiet Lawn Cavern need help again?" Will asked.

"Nah. It's not the cavern. It's the cave that's just outside of the cavern. Since no one here has any elemental powers, they cannot see it. But any slug can. The problem is that there is a fire in the cave. Someone's in there, but I don't want to go out to check it out in case it's one of the gang members that hangs around here. Do you think you and your team can check things out for me?" the man, Red Hook, asked.

"Yeah! We'll be there soon."

"Keep me posted."

Then the call ended.

"Kord? Can you and Pronto stay here to keep a lookout for any other calls? Just in case?"

"Sure thing, bro." Kord smiled.

"Surely Pronto can handle himself?" Pronto asked.

"Kord doesn't like water. And it's raining. So I figured he wouldn't want to get wet." Will reasoned.

"What about me, Will?" Trixie asked.

"You're with me. That okay with you?"

"Yeah."

They suited up and rode to Quiet Lawn Cavern and saw Red Hook was right; there was a fire inside the cave.

"I'll check it out. Stay behind me." Will ordered.

Trixie nodded. They crept in and were about to yell out a surrender call when they saw a boy that was about the age of 13 or 14. He also had dark, navy blue hair and fair skin. At least… his hands were. His face on the contrary… it had a slight tinge of green.

"Will! Look at the slugs he has with him!" Trixie said excitedly.

What he saw he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a Boon Doc, an Enigmo, and an Infurnus! Three of the rarest slugs in all of Slugterra!

"Wow…"

The Infurnus and the Boon Doc woke up, and the first slug mentioned growled at them while the other one kept its aura near the boy's stomach.

"H-hey… we're on your side… m-my name is Will Shane… a-and she's Trixie Sting…" Will told the growling slug.

The Infurnus looked up at him and stopped growling. The slug then backed up so the two could come closer. Trixie placed a hand on the boy's forehead when she noticed the pale face and flushed cheeks through the sickly green pallor.

"Will? You might need to see this…"

Will stood up and saw the face Trixie was giving him. Her face was full of worry.

"We need to bring him to the hideout to help him get better. Please, Will. He needs the help, whether he knows it or not."

He looked at the boy and noticed something familiar about him. But he just couldn't place it…

"Agreed. We need to take him with us, but how? It's not like he'll just wake up and be awake so he can sit up."

"So? Wake him up!"

"Is that a good idea?"

"No idea. But it's worth a shot, right?"

Will nodded and shook the boy's shoulder.

"Okay kid. I need you to wake up for me. Come on, you can do it…"

~~~!~~~

Eli woke up feeling his shoulder being shaken by someone.

"Okay kid. I need you to wake up for me. Come on, you can do it…" the voice said.

Eli groaned and rolled over. He didn't feel so good. And someone was bugging him? He then felt his stomach move, and he felt ready to throw up. He started to cough, feeling the food from earlier start to come up. Someone sat him up, and he turned his face away from the body holding him close so he wouldn't get sick on them. The force of having something being expelled from his body made him cry out in pain.

"Easy there. I gotcha…" the voice from earlier said.

After a couple of minutes, Eli felt the vomit stop coming up. Only then did he let the tears fall down his cheeks. Someone with gentle hands wiped them away.

"It's okay. You're safe. But we need to take you to our hideout to help you." a female voice said.

"She's right. Is it okay if we do?" the male voice asked.

All Eli could do was manage a weak 'uh-huh'. With their answer, the boy and girl helped him out of the cave and onto the… what was it? He wasn't sure, but it felt like a motorcycle. Then the boy sat behind him and looped his arms around Eli's torso to keep him from falling off. The girl was apparently on another motored vehicle. When the two took off, he realized that one of his slugs was on his shoulder and the other two were on his other shoulder. Only then did Eli fall asleep.

~~~!~~~

When Will felt the boy go limp in his arms, he felt his shoulders relax.

"Hey, Trixie? What will Kord and Pronto say?"

"No clue. Kord will understand, but Pronto? Let's hope for the best that he will too."

"Yeah… I hope so too…"


	3. Reintroduced to my Brother

Later on, when Will and Trixie pulled into the garage, they realized Kord was there too.

"Hey, Kord. What's up?" Will asked.

"Who is that? In your lap?" he asked.

"Oh him? We honestly don't know. He wasn't awake, so we didn't get an answer."

"Oh. And is that an Infurnus, Boon Doc, and Enigmo he has with him?!"

"Yeah. They look to be his. They were very protective of him when we saw him in the cave."

The boy stirred slightly and started to cough harshly.

"Kord! Is there a trash can nearby?" Trixie asked in a slight panic.

"Yeah. Why?" he asked skeptically.

"Grab it! Quick!"

Kord returned seconds later with it. He then saw why when the boy's face went slightly green. Kord placed the trash can under the kid's chin just in time for he was heaving up what was left in his stomach. Kord grimaced but didn't move. Will kept the boy in place, and Trixie had bustled off somewhere.

"Now I see why you brought him here. Oh, and Will?" Kord asked.

"Yeah?" Will asked back.

"Pronto won't be here for a while. Next week is the retake week. I've already gotten the reminder that I don't have to go to school next week. I asked the office, and you don't have to either. But Pronto has to re-take a lot of stuff, so next week he won't be here."

"Okay. Thank you, Kord."

"You're welcome. Now… where will we put him?"

"In your brother's spare bedroom. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Okay. But… isn't his room a mess?"

"Nope. I had cleaned it when he left. It should be ready for the boy to sleep in." Trixie said.

"Okay. Thank you Trixie!" Will thanked. Trixie smiled. She then frowned.

"Your brother won't mind, would he?"

"As long as it was for a good cause, he wouldn't mind."

"Okay. That's good."

Just then, the boy began to wake up. His eyes were glassy from the fever, but regardless, they were a deep, rich sapphire blue, almost royal blue, with a hint or two of gray. His bangs drooped onto the right side of his face, which was also a dark, navy blue, almost black. He immediately widened his eyes upon seeing the three of them.

"W-who are you? W-where am I?" the boy asked in a panic.

"It's okay. We won't hurt you. My name is Trixie Sting." she said.

"My name is Will. Will Shane."

The boy then saw Kord and widened his eyes more. But they noticed they weren't in fear.

"And I'm Kord Zane."

"And you're a cave troll!" the boy said in awe.

"You mean… you aren't scared of me?"

"Of course not! You'll never find anyone more loyal, honest, and brave than a cave troll. At least, that's what my uncle and brother always used to say."

"They said that? About a cave troll? Did they ever meet one?" Kord asked.

"I know they did."

The boy then began to cough. But it wasn't a gagging cough. It was a dry one.

"Say, what's your name?" Trixie asked.

~~~!~~~

"Say, what's your name?" Trixie asked.

Eli then didn't want to reveal who he was yet. So he had to think of another name. He wasn't sure if Will would be mad or not.

"M-my name is Elliot," Eli said before he felt his hand twitch.

"Nice to meet you, Elliot!"

After they had done introductions, Eli felt his stomach feel slightly better. But only just.

"Hey, Elliot? You feel up to playing Truth or Dare with us? To pass the time?" Trixie asked.

"Um… sure. How do we play?" Eli asked.

"I hook us up into our minds, and we use or memories to do the truths, and for the dares, we write them down, and we do them after. Okay?"

"Yeah. Let's do it."

"Okay! Close your eyes everyone!"

Everyone did except Eli. He had to see what happened. Trixie then let out a spirit. It was a blue-green color and looked like a mixture of the water and energy spirits. He then felt his head hurt immensely. Then as soon as it was there, it was gone. His eyes though were blind.

~~~!~~~

"Okay, everyone! Can you all see me?" Trixie asked.

She heard Kord and Will say yes at the same time.

"Elliot? Can you see me?"

She noticed Elliot flinched at the name.

"I… I cannot. It's all black."

"That would explain the blackish-green color to your eyes. Give it about a couple of minutes, and they should return to normal."

"Okay. I… I trust you."


	4. The Blind Truth

"I'll go first. Kord? Truth or Dare?" Will asked.

"Dare. I'm not a chicken," he said.

"Okay. I dare you not to prank Pronto when he comes back."

"Ah, man! Fine. Trixie! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"If you could meet anyone, who would it be?"

"I would have to choose the Master of the Elements."

"But that's a legend!"

"No, it's not! My mom has seen the previous incarnation! And I want to see the new reincarnation."

She then played the memory of her mother telling Trixie about the Master of the Elements.

"Okay okay. I believe ya." Kord said.

"Hmph."

"Okay then… hey, Elliot? Can you see yet? It's been about a minute." Will said.

"Er… not really. But I can see your memories. In my head." he said.

"Weird. No one has ever done that before." Trixie said.

"No one? I'm the first to do it?"

"Yeah. You are."

Elliot then started to disappear in front of their eyes. He said something they couldn't hear and faded back in.

"Ugh. Sorry, you had to see that." he apologized.

"What happened? Or what almost happened?" Kord asked.

"Oh. That was me fighting my consciousness. I almost passed out again."

"Hmm… maybe that's why you cannot see! Your head. Does it hurt? Or any other part of your body?" Trixie asked.

Elliot looked like he was thinking.

"To be honest? Or to lie?" Elliot asked with a hint of humor.

"Haha. Amusing. I'm serious."

Elliot went quiet.

"Elliot? You have to tell us if something is wrong."

Before he could answer, he disappeared from view.

"ELI!" Will shouted on instinct.

Will, Kord, and Trixie then disappeared one by one. When they opened their eyes, the first thing that they saw was Elliot asleep on the floor and his face paler than before.

"Oh… it's all my fault. If I didn't say anything about the game, he wouldn't be…" Trixie started.

"Trixie, it's okay! It's not your fault! It's just that he seems so stubborn." Will stated.

"I guess you're right. And… did you yell out 'Eli' when he disappeared from view?"

"Huh. I guess I did. It was instinct, you know? He just looks like my brother so much. But he hasn't been down yet this year. He was supposed to come down tomorrow."

Will then looked at the other two.

"Wait, what if he is my brother? And he's just acting like he's someone else because he's scared?"

"Is that something he would even do?" Trixie asked.

"He… he's not really… normal, per say."

"How so? Is he like us?" Kord asked.

"Yeah. He is. That's part of the reason he never comes down here often. Mom and Uncle Jimmo were afraid to let him live down here with you guys and me because they said he would 'tap into his powers' or something."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"You shouldn't have told them, Will."

They turned around to see Elliot awake with panic evident in his eyes.

"You're awake," Trixie stated.

"Yeah, and? Being sick, seeing bad things recently, and trying to control powers so they don't explode doesn't exactly help."

"Oh. So is your name Elliot? Or is it Eli?" Kord said.

"It's Eli. Elliot is my real name, and it's the name used for when I get in trouble."

"Wait, where's Uncle Jimmo?" Will asked.

Eli looked at his hands that were in his lap and shook his head.

"You… you don't want those images in your head. Trust me."

"Then tell us what happened to them and dad. You know what happened to him, don't you?"

"Yes. I do. You might want to sit down. This will be a while."


	5. Meeting Pronto

"Before I begin the story, my full name is Elliot L. Shane, or Eli or short. Anyways, I always did have someone after them, but every time someone got too close to the truth, we would always move. Every other year, we would move. In fact, I never fully unpacked ever, because I knew that we would move again."

"That's so sad though," Trixie said.

"Yeah. No kid should have to live with that burden," Kord agreed.

Eli smiled and then frowned.

"Will said you guys had powers. What are they?"

"Pronto, whom you haven't met yet, has Earth. I have Air," Kord said.

"I have Fire, as you know," Will said with a smile.

"And I have Water and Healing," Trixie said while Eli nodded, "what power or powers do you have?

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Eli said with a smile.

"Can't we guess?"

"If you want. I'll say this though: mom had healing and earth, dad had water and air, and Uncle Jimmo had fire."

"Don't you mean 'has'? Mom has? Uncle Jimmo has?" Will asked.

"No. Had, they had."

"Has! It's has! I know dad's dead, but mom and Uncle Jimmo aren't!"

"And that's where you're wrong, Will!"

Everyone got quiet. Will widened his eyes as did Eli, but there was a difference in why. Will's was from shock and Eli's was from shock and sadness.

"What do you mean by 'you're wrong', Eli?" Will whispered, eyes softening.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't there in time. I didn't save them. I wasn't fast… fast…" Eli started to breathe faster. Will's eyes widened before he encircled him into a hug.

"Eli, I'm not mad. A little sad that they're gone, but I don't blame you. You didn't know it would happen. We'll talk about this later, but I need you to calm down."

Eli tried to breathe slower, but he just resulted in coughing. Will rubbed his back and placed his chin on top of his head. Eli nuzzled the bottom of his jaw before sneezing. He tried pulling away, but Will held fast.

"Just relax, Eli. I'm not going anywhere. Nor are the others."

Will nodded at the other two to get in the hug too.

"Will's right. We won't go anywhere unless you want us to," Trixie stated while looking at Will for approval. He simply nodded.

"Yep. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us. Pronto too, when he gets here," Kord said.

"When _who_ gets here?"

Kord and Trixie looked up at the door to see someone walking in. Will turned his body in a way so his back was to the person and Eli was hidden out of sight.

"Pronto! Uh, hi! I thought you had more testing to do," Kord said.

"Ohhoho, I do. But Pronto goes back tomorrow to finish testing," the new voice said.

While the other three were talking, Eli whimpered slightly and Will turned his head slightly toward him.

"Who is he? The guy that's here now," Eli whispered.

"Pronto. He talks in third person a lot," Will told him.

Eli nodded. Will then turned his head to Pronto.

"So, what did Pronto miss?"

"Uh, nothing much. How many more tests do you have to redo?" Will asked.

"Hmm… let me think…"

It got quiet for a moment and Eli felt his stomach roll.

' _This,_ ' he thought, ' _is probably not going to end well._ '

"I got it! I did three today, and I had ten in total, so now I have seven more!"

"Seven?! Pronto! How long were you putting this all off?!" Trixie yelled.

"Ehhe… I don't remember."

Eli swallowed the saliva in his mouth. It was getting harder to keep quiet.

The bickering went on and on when Will sighed. Quietly, of course.

"Come on," Will whispered in his ear, "let's get you to bed."

Eli shook his head and whispered back _no, not yet_ at Will's questioning noise. Unfortunately, Pronto heard the commotion and walked over.

"Okay, now Pronto knows something's up," Pronto said which made Will tense his body, "now, _what are you hiding from me_?"

Eli shuddered at the hiss that Pronto made when talking. It made him think of that afternoon when he went home.

 _~FLASHBACK~_

 _He was about to run away when he felt a hand cover his mouth. He immediately widened his eyes and stayed stiff._

" _Good lad. Now, where is Eli Shane?" the person hissed in his ear._

 _The man let his hand go from Eli's face but kept a firm grip on his body._

" _I… I don't know…" Eli stuttered._

 _The man sneered._

" _You better not know. Or I WILL hunt you down."_

 _~FLASHBACK END~_

Eli let out a small gasp of pain as his power level spiked. That hurt, that had really hurt. He also felt his fever jump as well. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on Will's clavicle and sternum. He felt his older brother flinch slightly. A hand that wasn't human touched his arm. Eli jerked back and hit his elbow on something wet.

"Ow! That hurt!"

Eli opened his eyes and saw a mole-like creature. He then realized why he was an earthbender. He opened his mouth to say something when Will beat him to it.

"I'm sorry that I was hiding him from you. This is my younger brother Eli. Eli, this is Pronto," Will said.

Eli nodded before swallowing more saliva.

"Sorry I hit you, Pronto," he whispered.

"Bah, Pronto the Magnificent forgives you."

Eli resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Just the thought of moving made him want to throw up again. He did see Trixie and Kord do it, though.

Eli watched as Pronto went to the couch to play video games, Kord went to the garage to do… well, he wasn't sure, and Trixie going to the computer to upload something, he wasn't sure here either. Will gently lifted his head and looked him in the eyes.

"Eli, you've met Pronto. Let's get you upstairs to the bedroom so you can rest," Will urged lightly.

He shook his head again, but not as quickly as the first time. Will frowned. He thought about something when realization dawned on him.

"The reason you don't want to move is that moving makes you feel dizzy, isn't it?"

Eli nodded. He was afraid of talking because he wasn't sure if words were the only thing that would come out. Pronto suddenly got up off the couch really quickly and threw down the controller. The loud snap from the controller hitting the floor made Eli jump and hit Will's chin, which jolted his head. He fell to his knees with a gasp.

"Eli? What's wrong?" Will asked.

"I… I think I'm going to be sick," he whispered back.

Will picked him up and led him up the stairs to the bathroom. Eli knelt down in front of the toilet and heaved. Gentle hands rubbed his back and shoulder blades. A couple of minutes later, he coughed and realized that he didn't vomit any stomach contents; it was just stringy bile.

"You good?" Will asked.

Eli nodded and began to stand up. Will helped him out by grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him to his feet. A couple of minutes later, he was in clean pajamas and in his bed. He fell asleep before his head touched the pillow.


End file.
